How to troubleshoot and fix online problems

[blackwiggle]

This post is to help those who seem to be having some problems with some aspects of online play.

It should help those who cannot see games on the online board and possibly fix some of the in game voice chat that some experience.

What you need to know.
1] On your PS3 XMB,go to Network settings
2] Go to internet connection test and run it.

After it has run you will find at the very bottom something called NAT.
There are three types of NAT,funnily enough called NAT1,NAT2 and NAT3.

If you have NAT1 or NAT2 you probably won't be reading this post,as all should be working for you.
If on the other hand you have NAT3...well you have a problem.

You are behind a router/firewall. While your PS3 may be able to connect to the PSN and perform downloads/updates other functions may not work as intended.

That and another problem could be that your PS3 doesn't have a static ip address.

You can change your NAT3 to NAT2 and fix your router so that your PS3 has a static ip if you follow the instructions from the link below.which explains the process far better than I could.

http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=74303

While I find the "how to" from this link a great help, it doesn't really explain in any great deal how to resolve static ip addresses problems,otherwise known as Port Forwarding.

So here is another link that not only explains what you are doing and how,also helps you get into your routers settings and change them.

http://portforward.com/

Hope this information helps.

Happy racing.

[Laeke]

I am the first one to answer so if this is not appropriate, I do apologize.
First and foremost: blackwiggle, thanks for the help.

I did have some online problems with my PS3, but not of the variety you described. I need to test some tweakings to see if I solved them or not, however maybe I am not the only one.
I am in NAT2. At home I have a router, and a switch behind it. Internet connection is shared by three devices: two computers and the PS3. They are all connected through Ethernet cables (PS3 was previously in WiFi)

I had a lot of DC for the PS3 which would be a chore. Losing connection in the middle of online races and tourneys, losing it while playing solo (which cause a slowdown in the game for a second, very annoying while SLing). I recently had confirmation that my PS3 went offline when my computer would go in energy saving mode. I suspected the issue was coming from some sort of conflict between devices (switching on the PS3 would sever internet on a computer or vice-versa).
So I assigned static local IP adresses for each devices. The PSN worked like a charm all evening (which only happened once before) and I am waiting to see if this eliminate or minimize my Internet problems at home for several days and if it is not just a lucky break.

If so I can provide a quick walkthrough to those interested. I was also wondering if I was the only one to have experienced this.

[eLhabib]

After assigning a static IP to your PS3, did it go from NAT2 to NAT1? If yes, I would be very interested in a tutorial.

[Darkdrium777]

I'll quote myself from the PS Underground forums:

Originally Posted by Darkdrium777,12-15-2008 05:15 AM

Finding the necessary information:

If you are using a Linksys router [NB: Any router works the same way], I take it you know how to access the configuration page? If not, try entering any of the following into your web browser:

192.168.1.1; 192.168.2.1; 192.168.1.2; etc.

Switch the last two numbers around, but don't go too high they're always close to 1.

Next, for the PS3 static IP, you're gonna have to do some stuff on your computer. You say you're not tech savy so I'll assume you're using Windows. Steps for Windows Vista are highlighted in blue in white are those for Windows XP and previous versions. [NB: Colours do not match]

Click the Start button. Click on Run. / Use the dynamic search bar and search for Run, click on the result that comes up in the start menu.

A window entitled 'Run' should come up. Enter in 'cmd' without the ' ' and press Enter.

You should get a command window, with grey text on a black background. Type in 'ipconfig -all' without the ' '. A bunch of stuff comes up.

Scroll up or down the text that came up, until you find a line like this: 'Ethernet Adaptor Local Area Connection', or if you are using Wireless internet: 'Wireless LAN Wireless Network Connection'. More specifically, look for the name of your ISP somewhere in the text below that line.

Once you've found what you need, write down the following informations: Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DNS Servers. These will be the three things you will need when setting up the PS3.

Configuring the PS3:

Turn on the PS3, go to the 'Settings' category and scroll down to 'Network Settings'.

Select the option 'Internet Connection Settings'. Choose the 'Custom' method.

Select Wired or Wireless, depending on your setup. (Additional steps for Wireless are in green.)

On WLAN Settings, select 'Scan'. Choose the name of your wireless network and go to the next pane to verify the SSID (Name) of your wireless network, then hit next.

On WLAN Security Settings, verify the encryption of your wireless network. You can set the encryption by configuring your router.

On Encryption Key, enter the password that you entered in the router, or the one that the router generated for you when you set up the encryption. Hit next.

On IP Address Setting, choose 'Manual' then next.

In the IP Address field, enter a derivative of your router's IP Address (The one you have to enter to get to the configuration page). So if for example you use 192.168.2.1 to access the configuration, using 192.168.2.10 is a good choice, for example.
You can also check under the parameter in your router's configuration called 'DHCP Range'. Choose an IP in that range, if DHCP is enabled (Most routers have it on by default.)

In Subnet Mask, enter what was given to you by the ipconfig -all command line on your computer.

In Default Router, enter what was given to you by the ipconfig -all command line on your computer.

In Primary DNS, enter what was given to you by the ipconfig -all command line on your computer.

In Secondary DNS (If there is one), enter what was given to you by the ipconfig -all command line on your computer.

Hit Next. On MTU, select 'Automatic', then Next. Set Proxy Server to 'Do Not Use' then Next. Set UPnP to 'On' or 'Off' depending on your router's configuration. Hit Next. Done, press X to save. Test the connection to see if everything is working, normally it should. If not, go back and check the numbers for Static IP, Subnet Mask, router and DNS Server. Also disable UPnP if you had it enabled, or vice versa.

Configuring the router:

Open up the configuration page of your router, go ahead to the location where you will set the DMZ (Refer to your manual or the online help).
Enter the IP you entered in the PS3's IP Address field, save the changes and you're done!

Hopefully this guide helps you.

NB: Edited for clarity and 'general purpose'. Only for setting up a static IP on the PS3 and assigning the router's DMZ to it.

[s]@eLhabib: You cannot get NAT1 behind a router.[/s]

[eLhabib]

Originally Posted by Darkdrium777

@eLhabib: You cannot get NAT1 behind a router.

Not even if I disable the firewall completely? Btw I am pretty sure my 360 (which uses the same router) is NAT1 (can't check now because it's at a friend's).

[Darkdrium777]

Hmm I'm pretty sure about that. Here, let's read the wiki article at the same time

EDIT: Yeah, if you remove the firewall (Not a good idea), you can get NAT1. NAT2 is very fine

EDIT2: [s]strikethrough[/s] doesn't work?

[Michelasso]

Originally Posted by eLhabib

After assigning a static IP to your PS3, did it go from NAT2 to NAT1? If yes, I would be very interested in a tutorial.

To use static IP is useless. You just do manually what the DHCP server in the router does for you. Also one needs to know what s/he is doing because it's easy to make a mess.

[Virtical]

Ive got a quick question, thinking of switching my PS3 over from Wi-fi to ethernet, anyone know if itll behave on the second network port from my computer if I bridge the two cards? Or anything I should know if I do?

[blackwiggle]

Depends on what particular modem/router you have.

[needsmust]

My pal could join, but never host a game - "unable to connect", "DNS", "network error" or something. He's a short vegetarian computer type and had a long list of techie things that he'd tried with NAT, router fiddling, wires/less, etc.

I was able to host when connecting through his machine. After much unhelpful web-trawling, it occured to me that his PSN name contained "..fuk.." and after creating a non-profane sub-account all is sweet.

Thought this might help some other lost soul.